Peanut Trial: Fail

June 15, 2011

Last week, I walked into the kitchen to see my husband giving Joseph a peanut. I gave him a look, then said that I would rather give him peanut butter than actual nuts until his molars come in at the least (Currently, his bottom molars are just breaking through. Top ones are still below the gums). Over the next 24 hours, he didn’t seem to react to the nut, except for a light diaper rash that developed.

So, I decided to give him some peanut butter the next day. I’ve been wanting to try it for awhile so he would have another source of protein in his diet. I spread some on a rice cake and gave it to him. He ate a few bits, and then was done. I attributed his lack of appetite to the fact that he hasn’t cared much for rice cakes lately.

He had a hard time going down for a nap afterwards. Usually, he just falls asleep within a few minutes, but he fussed off and on for half an hour. When he woke up an hour later, he screamed even while I was holding him for at least fifteen minutes.

Then at night, he woke up every hour, and I could not calm him down. At one point, I put him down on the floor, and watched him writhe in pain. I thought it might be night terrors, but he got awake enough to walk for a bit, screaming the whole way. Finally, I realized he was poopy, changed the diaper, and put diaper cream on his bottom. After that, he was able to fall asleep.

The next morning, I saw the damage. His diaper rash had raised bumps, and was extremely prone to bleeding. I’d only seen it get that bad that quick when he’d pooped after eating milk. And I’m sure he didn’t have any milk that day.

Looking back, he could have been reacting to gluten that had gotten cross-contaminated with the peanut butter, because it does make him cranky. Still, knowing how dangerous nut allergies can be, and given how many other allergies he has, I’m not going to give him any more nuts until he gets tested in a doctor’s office.